Boost your Intelligence 5x with these mental concepts
You can also apply them to your writing.
Back in the 80s, when I was a child and arcade galleries were in full swing, One game, Afterburner, captivated me entirely.
You maneuver a combat plane across various levels in the game, eliminating adversaries.
As you progress, you become the ruler of the virtual airspace.
I used to go to the arcade every day and spend any coins I had to become the sky king. All week long, I thought about that game and the record I was going to set.
One day, I snuck out of the house with enough coins from my parents to have the game to myself for several hours. It wasn’t the era of mobile phones, so nobody knew where I was, nor had anyone seen me leave.
It was a nightmare afternoon for my parents. They looked for me throughout the neighborhood for hours. When my father found me in the arcade and saw me spending his money on that game, his fury was not digital.
He dragged me out by the ears and scolded me in public for wasting time and money. Later at home, Betty, my mother, was softer with me.
She didn’t scold me but advised me. As a good psychologist, she knew how to put everything in a reflective tone.
She told me that my behavior was inappropriate. In her words, I had to be alert in my life to addictive behaviors like the one I had, and their negative effects.
“You need to seek help if you have trouble controlling those impulses,” she said.
Those were wise words that I still treasure to this day: control and help.
Years later, Betty told me that the day that happened, I helped her understand a concept she had studied in university: variable reinforcement.
She explained it to me and ended up thanking me because I had been of great help to her professional experience.
What a lovely guinea pig I was.
Now that I’m writing on various platforms, I know that these behaviors have re-emerged. The need for recognition, likes, claps, and followers is not natural.
So I wondered what other similar concepts my mother may have analyzed in me, and I didn’t realize it.
A couple of weeks ago, I went back to my parents’ house and reviewed her notes. I came across something that held great value.
Now, I can better understand the education she gave me and I have a notion of how she implemented her studies in my case.
I see now that I can continue to apply these concepts in my life, and so can you.
That’s why I want to share these findings with you today.
Before we begin, let’s define what cognitive bias is.
It is a systematic misinterpretation of the information that is available. One that leads us to perceive reality incorrectly.
1. Dunning-Kruger Effect
The less you know, the more confident you are.
The more you know, the less confident you are.
Ignorance is bliss and knowledge is a burden.
The concept is that people who do not perform well lack the ability to differentiate between good and bad performance.
They have a tendency to overestimate themselves.
As writers, this bias can help us in the following ways:
- By understanding that we must be open to feedback and criticism.
- By learning and improving our writing skills through practice.
- By seeking perspectives and ideas from authors who have more experience or skill than we do.
To put it differently, we should be humble and self-aware.
2. Reactance Theory
The more you feel your freedom threatened, the more reactive you become.
This is an emotional reaction where you do the opposite of what you’re told. This reaction occurs when someone threatens your freedom or autonomy.
Reactance can cause a person to adopt or harden a contrary viewpoint or attitude toward the intended one. It also increases resistance to persuasion.
As a writer, you can use this concept to your advantage in this way :
- By avoiding overly prescriptive language or tone.
- Presenting your ideas in a way that encourages readers to come to their own conclusions, rather than telling them what to think.
- By recognizing readers’ existing beliefs or perspectives before presenting our own ideas.
3. False Consensus
The more you believe everyone shares your views, the more you overestimate their agreement.
This is a bias where people have a tendency to overestimate the degree to which others share their beliefs or opinions.
This bias exaggerates individuals’ confidence in their own beliefs, even when they are wrong or in the minority.
Understanding this bias is crucial in writing because it allows us to:
- Be aware of our own prejudices and assumptions as writers.
- Avoid making assumptions about our readers’ beliefs or opinions.
- Use language and examples that are accessible to a wide range of readers.
4. Variable Reinforcement:
The less predictable and more sporadic the rewards or punishments, the more reinforced the behavior becomes.
Examples include gambling or social media notifications.
Regarding the context of writing, this could mean:
- Using a variety of techniques to captivate readers, such as vivid descriptions or thought-provoking questions.
- Experiment with different writing styles or formats to maintain reader interest.
- Creating surprises or unexpected twists to maintain reader interest and attention.
5. Default Effect- Status
We crave what we know.
When faced with the option to try something new or stick with what people conventionally know, we have a tendency to be extremely conservative. Even when the change would be beneficial.
In writing, this could mean:
- Being aware of the assumptions or expectations that readers may have when reading your work.
- Challenging common or traditional approaches when writing about a topic.
- Using unique or unconventional language or syntax to capture readers’ attention and challenge their assumptions.
Although in my youth, I often felt like an experiment of my mother, now that she’s gone, I miss not being able to talk to her about all these conclusions I’ve come to.
Fortunately, I have you all to share these ideas with.
It is important to note that there are more cognitive biases, but these are the ones that Betty studied.
It may seem exaggerated, but writing, just like After Burner, is a psychological game.
Not a game of shooting down enemies, but mental barriers.
A game where we open our minds to others.
In the same way, it is a game where we ourselves enter the minds of others, just as I am doing right now with you.
So if we’re going to play, why not use some wonderful tools that guarantee our success?
Are you aware of any other biases that might be helpful for us writers?
Let me know, please.
Hi, I’m Nestor Laverde. Nobody´s darling.
If you’re interested in motivating yourself through rock, marketing, and space thrillers, you’ve come to the right place.
